


Drum Major, Is Your Band Ready?

by thesimplicityofblue



Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: AGES ARE NOOOOTTTTT ACCURATE, Female Pronouns for Pidge | Katie Holt, Gen, I need a gay saxaphone, I repeat, Marching Band AU, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, ages are NOT ACCURATE, band au, band camp is literal hell, clarinet lotor, concert band??, drum major allura, drum major shiro, flutist keith, im adding OCs because i need more people, matt is that kid that comes back after he graduated bc hes lonely, mostly platonic stuff, oh! and color guard shay, percussion pidge, possible band trip??, small amounts of klance farther in, sousa/tuba hunk, there will def be more characters added in, trumpet lance
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-12-02
Updated: 2017-12-10
Packaged: 2019-02-08 06:19:24
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 1,589
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12858591
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/thesimplicityofblue/pseuds/thesimplicityofblue
Summary: The tempo.Feel it. Live it. Be it.Precision.Getting to your dot is not as important as keeping the form.--The Voltron Marching Lions are a medium sized band, but they are by no means mediocre.Keep that in mind when they welcome you to Band Camp.They really mean welcome to hell.---Hiya! My name is Blue and I want to welcome you to band camp. :DBut anyway, I'm not sure how long this'll be. Depending on feedback this could be as short as to the end of band camp or into the concert season and maybe a spring trip?? I really do hope you enjoy tho. For those of you who arent in band the 1st chapter will have an explanation of basic terms and I'll put some more as terms are used. This is also for band kids bc I know that what things are referred to depends on the band and mine are probably different from yours.





	1. An Explanation Of Terminology

Hiya! Its Blue. So if you read the title you'll know that this is a band fic and if you read the title of the chapter you'll know this is just the terms I will be using. Feel free to skip this if you already know this stuff?? But if you dont then please read. Lets start simple:

Marching Band- Is totally a sport (you cant fight me on this), the season is roughly the same as football. Forming complex shapes and formations on field while playing difficult music.  
Director- The band teacher, is in charge of keeping the students out of the radar of the administration/police. Has final word in almost everything.  
Band Moms- Obey at all costs. They provide many things. You have a problem? Go to a band mom.  
Pit Dads- They haul all of the expensive equipment to comps and games and other things. Dont go to them for anything serious.  
Competitions- Also referred to as comps. Competitions are usually on Saturday, and are all day events.  
Halftime- The band performs their show at a football game. Most people leave at this time to get food.

Now lets get into the hard stuff:

Drum Major(s)- Students that conduct the band. Usually older students b/c they have a better understanding of music and tempo then the younguns do. Think exhausted parent.  
Brass Captain- Manage both high brass and low brass.  
Woodwind Captain- Manage all woodwinds.  
Percussion Captain- Manage drumline and pit.  
Drumline Captain- Manages drumline, but Percussion Captain has more authority.  
Pit Captain- Manages pit, but Percussion Captain has more authority.  
Sections- The band is separated into sections. Sections are based on instruments. The sections are Clarinets, Mellophones, Saxophones (Alto,Tenor), Flutes (Flutes, Piccalo), Pit, Drumline, Low Brass (Trombone, Baritone, Sousaphone, Bari Sax), and Trumpets. Sections practice together during sectionals.  
Sectionals- Sectionals are dedicated to focusing on individual fundamentals as well as individual parts in music.  
Section Leaders- Teach the newbies and lead sectionals. Section leaders have the same authority as Pit and Drumline Captain, but Brass/ Woodwind Captains have more authority.  
Color Guard- The uneducated refer to them as 'flag twirlers'. They dont tend to like that so call them color guard. Color guard includes flags and rifles.  
Pit- These instruments cannot be marched, and are part of the percussion family. Pit usually consists of freshmen.  
Drumline/Battery- Percussion instruments that can be marched. Includes bass drum, snare drum, and tenor/quad.

Here are general marching terms-

Detail, a ten, hut!- This calls the band to attention. The chant starts off with clapping and is typically yelled by a single person.  
Hut!- The bands response to the last command. Basically it goes like this: *clap clap clap clap* detail, a ten, hut! HUT!!  
Mark time mark- Starts off with clapping to signal a tempo and then the command is said. The band then starts marking time, which means their feet move in time w/ the tempo.  
Forwards march- Start marching forward.  
Push and one- Signals the beginning of a new movement. So like if someone calls for forward march, you start with 'push and one' then continue counting till the end of the move.  
Band, halt- To stop the band.  
Touch close- The bands response to the last command to signal that they heard.  
Slide- In a show, most of the time your torso needs to be facing the sideline. In a slide your feet face the direction you are going in, but your torso is to the sideline. This can be painful to beginners.  
Box Drill- Marching in a box shape. Tests guiding, slides and marching at the same time.  
Guiding- Staying in line with the person next to you and in front of you.  
Cover down!- Usually yelled. Signals for someone to quide to the person in front of them.  
Dot- Your dot is a memorized spot on the field during a show. You can have around 60-100 dots in a show.  
Dot Sheet/Card- Holds all dot locations for you. V important.  
Guiding to the form- More important than dots during a performance.

###### 

I think thats about it for now. I'll have more specific things pop up and I'll explain them as they come along. Was that too much? idk but it took a lot of time! :)

###### 


	2. Welcome to Hell part 1

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> band camp

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Alright here it is! Lets get this started!!! Its a little shorter than what I wanted but whatevs. I may have been a little dramatic when describing what its like to be called to attention but whatever.

Lance pulled into the student parking lot of Voltron High, Hollaback Girl by Gwen Stefani blaring through the speakers of his beat up minivan. His car was packed with members of the band; There may have been only 6 seats available, but he currently had 10 kids in his car, not including himself. Hunk, Lance's best friend, was riding shotgun. Pidge, Lance's neighbor, and Shay, Hunk's girlfriend, had their own seats, but beyond that it was chaos. Two freshmen trumpets and two freshmen clarinets were squished in a three seater, there was a freshman flute on the floor playing Miss Mary Mack with a sophmore mellophone, and a senior trombone in the trunk with all of the instrument cases. This was the usual carpool group; the group had been established during the music reading session days, when parents of marching band kids in his neighborhood had all but jumped at the chance to not have to drive their kids when they learned that Lance had his licence. Lance had barely parked the car when one of the trumpets had flung open the door and all but threw himself out of the car. Everyone else shuffled out quietly except for the trombone, who was buried under all of the instruments in the trunk of the car.

Lance grinned and cut the engine. He had thought driving freshmen was going to be awkward, but it seems he had struck gold. Every single one of them was really funny and just a touch shy, but the best part about it was he was driving a flute. Driving a flute meant he would be able to corrupt her before Keith could put a stop to it. As one of the trumpet section leader, he was making it his goal to annoy the living daylights out of the flute section leader. It was too bad really; the flute, who shyly introduced herself as Mel, was really sweet. He almost hated that he had any contact whatsoever with her, but she was the only upcoming freshman in the flute section.

Lance flung open his door and stepped out, unlocking the trunk. This was the part that required precision. He opened the trunk and carefully unloaded each of the instruments onto the ground. He did so swiftly, but with extreme caution because if the person in the trunk shifted even the slightest bit everything would topple out. After the last of the instruments was unloaded, the trombonist rolled out of the trunk. He didn't seem to be fazed by the fact that he face planted into the concrete. He simply picked up his trombone case and started walking to the doors, the others following in suit. Lance grabbed his own trumpet and ran to catch up. Hunk was holding open the door dubbed 'The Band Door.'

"Hunk, my buddy, have I ever told you how much I love you?" Lance asked dramatically as he rushed through the doors.

Hunk chuckled as he shut the door. The Band Door wasn't actually the door to the band room itself but rather the external door to the Fine Arts hall. None of the other kids seemed to protest the name so that was what it was called. They made their way into the band room, which was filled with people laughing and shouting. The smell of sunscreen and valve oil hit Hunk and Lance like a ton of bricks, but they were used to it. The freshmen were hanging to the sides of the room, while the other students were in a large mass in the center. Lance instantly spotted the very familiar mullet of the flute section leader, Keith. It was pulled into a small ponytail at the nape of his neck. Keith was snorting at something the other flute section leader had said.

"Aw Hunk, look! Keith got here before us! Damn," Lance swore as he adjusted his grip on his trumpet case.

A series of claps stopped a very exasperated Hunk from replying. Every single one of the older kids heads snapped to the direction of the sound, and many were scrambling to stand before the inevitable. There was a slight murmur from the freshmen since most didn't understand the true importance of the claps, but it would be quickly silenced. Shiro, one of the band's drum majors, stood at the entrance of the band director's office. The older kids listened in anticipation, bodies tensed.

"DETAIL, A TEN, HUT!" Shiro shouted, voice booming.

"HUT!" The rest of the band shouted in response, bringing their clasped hands in front of their faces. Shiro nodded in satisfaction.

"Alright everyone. Start heading out." Shiro said. A loud, enthusiastic cheer followed his words as the entire band filed out of the double doors and out onto the the sidewalk. Lance pushed his sunglasses down and ran to catch up with Hunk.

"Damn, we barely made it in time. I'm gonna have to change the time I pick y'all up," Lance sighed, "but seriously _mi media naranja_ , you are so lucky that you don't have to carry your instrument!"

"Bro, you and I both know a sousa and a trumpet are a little different in terms of weight."

Lance shuddered at the memory. "True."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Update schedule will be posted on my tumblr (thesimplicityofblue). I'll give vague ideas as to when I would like to have chapters out on here but I'll have more set in stone things on there. I had a lot of fun adding that nickname Lance gave Hunk. It literally translates to half an orange or smth but its like saying 'my better half' and I think thats beautiful. Anyway, be sure to give me feedback and such! ~Blue


End file.
